Loomis has enjoyed the comforts of home their last two games, but now they'll head out on the road. They just played last night, but they'll still head out to face the Dundy County-Stratton Tigers at 5:15 p.m. on January 13th. Expect the scorekeeper to be kept busy: if their previous games are any indication, both teams will really light up the scoreboard on Saturday.
Loomis posted their biggest victory yet this season on Friday. They really took it to Wilcox-Hildreth for the full four quarters, racking up a 63-35 win at home. Given Loomis' advantage in MaxPreps' Nebraska basketball rankings (they are ranked 122nd, while Wilcox-Hildreth is ranked 249th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Loomis' success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but Tyson Essex led the charge by scoring 23 points along with six assists and four steals. As a matter of fact, that's the most points Essex has scored all season. The team also got some help courtesy of Ben Trompke, who scored 18 points along with five steals.
Meanwhile, Dundy County-Stratton's game on Tuesday was all tied up 30-30 at the half, but luckily for them it didn't stay that way. They came out on top against Hitchcock County by a score of 61-48.
Dundy County-Stratton's success was spearheaded by the efforts of Jackson Kerchal, who scored 20 points along with eight rebounds and three blocks, and Lane Bybee, who scored 23 points along with seven rebounds and four steals. Bybee continues to roll, besting his previous point total in each of the last three games he's played. Brodie Rogers was another key contributor, scoring four points along with two steals.
Loomis is on a roll lately: they've won six of their last seven matches, which provided a massive bump to their 8-6 record this season. As for Dundy County-Stratton, their win was their 15th straight at home dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 9-3.
Saturday's contest will pit two of the most dominant guards against one another: Cale Nelson and Kerchal. Nelson has been dynamite this season: he has averaged 13 points and 1.6 steals. For his part, Kerchal has averaged 16.8 points, 3.2 blocks, and 2.8 steals.
Some high-performance offense is likely on the agenda as Loomis and Dundy County-Stratton are some of the highest scoring teams in the league. Loomis hasn't had any problem running up the score this season, having only averaged 52.3 points per game. However, it's not like Dundy County-Stratton struggles in that department as they've been averaging only 56.8 points per game. With both teams so easily able to put up points, the only question left is who can run the score up higher Check MaxPreps after the match for a full breakdown of the game, commentary, and other basketball content.
